Places We Would Revisit

At Orchard Valley RV Park, Prescott Valley, Arizona...

As we approach the end of our lockdown here in Arizona, I figure it's time to send out another update. Being able to include something interesting is a bit of a challenge, since nothing very compelling has been going on here. In 15 years of RVing, we have never before had the experience of having no significant interaction with RV neighbors in nearly two months. I guess the virus has everyone spooked, although I don't think anyone else has checked into the infection statistics in our location. In the zip codes covering the towns of Dewey and Prescott Valley that border our park, there have been fewer than 10 Covid cases and no deaths. That makes for astronomical odds against running into anyone who is contagious, but such facts don't seem to make much difference when there's nothing but 24-hour doom on the TV. It's pretty sad.

One thing to which we've become accustomed is cooking in Phannie. In all this time, we've had only three takeout meals. All the rest have been cooked in the coach by me, since Sandy is still waiting on the orthotics that, hopefully, will relieve some of her arthritic foot pain that she has when she's on her feet.  We have two meals a day--brunch and supper--and you certainly couldn't call any of them gourmet or even mildly complicated, for that matter. Although my grub is simple southern cooking, we have a surprising variety of dishes that I found I could cook, and, since I also wash the dishes to keep Sandy off her feet, I don't get any complaints from her. The only thing I don't cook is cornbread and baked goods like cookies, cakes and pies. I would never try to compete with her on such things, and I don't particularly enjoy baking stuff. Besides, we definitely should not be eating these sorts of things so, although I miss these goodies, it's much better that they aren't available. I will admit that I've talked Sandy into fixing cornbread a couple of times; I help as much as I can, so she can stay off her feet as much as possible. 

The Arizona governor still has the whole state closed down, which I think is ridiculous for rural areas like this. I don't know why it has to be a one-size-fits-all situation but, since we're not Arizonans, we really don't have any say in the matter--just an opinion.

Now, let's get to the real topic of this piece--places we've been that we would definitely revisit.  Most of these have been in the western U. S.--probably because of the scenery and open spaces. 

Number one would probably be the Grand Canyon. We never get tired of the wonders of this immense place:

Then, of course, we would have to go back to Glacier National Park, as we only saw half of it when we were there, due to forest fires at the time:
  

We need to go back to Yellowstone, all of which we still haven't seen because the park is so large:

Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We're hoping to go back here and to Yellowstone this summer, if things work out:

Monument Valley. Who could get tired of these vistas?

Moab Area: Arches and Canyonlands N.P.s:

Big Bend Area:

Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg and the Smokies:

Arizona. We didn't get to see everything here we wanted to visit this winter because of the pandemic. We definitely must return and do this.

The Oregon Coast and the Pacific Northwest:

The Gulf Coast:

Alaska:

Hawaii:

Maine:

As I'm writing this, I am overwhelmed by all of this beloved country and Europe that we have seen--some of which occurred before digital photography was in use, and I haven't digitized those photos! I simply cannot include all of the places we would like to revisit. But I find that I'm getting ahead of myself, because there are still so many places we haven't seen yet!  

God willing, this plague will go away and we can get busy again!

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; 

please forgive me if I fail to appreciate it each day as I should.

We don't stop playing because we get old; we get old because we stop playing. 

 ---George Bernard Shaw

"I get up every morning, and I just don't let the old man in." ---Clint Eastwood